Exodus 1:15 records the moment Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gives a direct order to two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, who are charged with carrying out the king’s plan against the Israelite people. The verse sets the stage for one of the Bible’s earliest examples of someone choosing to obey God rather than an earthly ruler. It is the opening move in a story where the midwives’ names are remembered when the king’s name is not.
The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah…
Exodus 1:15 (WEB)
What Exodus 1:15 Means
The verse begins with “The king of Egypt spoke,” which tells you the power in this scene belongs to Pharaoh. He holds authority over the land, the people and the workforce. Yet the verse does not stop with his command. It turns to the midwives by name, showing that the king’s ambitions depend on ordinary women performing daily work in homes and birthing rooms.
The phrase “to the Hebrew midwives” identifies who receives the order. Midwives attended births, so Pharaoh was reaching into the most private and vulnerable moments of Israelite family life. The naming of Shiphrah and Puah matters too. Scripture gives these two women names when many other people in the chapter go unnamed, which signals that their actions are significant to the story.
What the verse does not promise is safety, success or an easy path. It describes a threat and a summons. Whatever comes next depends on how these women respond, and the reader is invited to watch closely.
The Context of Exodus 1:15
Exodus is traditionally attributed to Moses and was written to a people who had lived under oppression in Egypt and were being shaped into a nation with a covenant relationship to God. The book moves from the bondage of Israel in Egypt to their deliverance and the giving of the law. Verse 15 falls in the early part of that movement, while the Israelites are still enslaved.
Just before this verse, the text describes how the Egyptians made the Israelites serve harshly, and yet the people kept multiplying. The king’s response in verse 16 is the order to kill the newborn sons. Verse 17 then reveals that “the midwives feared God” and refused. Read in this setting, verse 15 is the hinge: the reader sees the tyrant’s plan take shape just before the faith of the midwives comes into view.
Key Phrases in Exodus 1:15
Exodus 1:17
But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive.
(WEB)
This verse shows the midwives’ response to Pharaoh’s command. Reading it alongside verse 15 lets you see the full shape of their decision: the threat was clear, and their fear of God led them to act differently than the king demanded.
Daniel 3:17
If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
(WEB)
Like Shiphrah and Puah, Daniel’s friends faced a direct royal command that conflicted with their devotion to God. This verse expresses their trust that God is able to deliver them, showing how faith can stand firm before a powerful ruler.
A Short Prayer From Exodus 1:15
Lord, you see the pressures that come from people with authority over us and the fears that rise when we are told to do what we know is wrong. Give me the courage of Shiphrah and Puah to honor you above every human command. Help me to act with wisdom and integrity, trusting that you hold my life and the lives of those I love. Keep my heart steady in the moments when obedience feels costly, and remind me that you remember the faithful even when the powerful do not. Amen.
